Life After Death
by Madison Dyann
Summary: Sequel to KNOW YOUR ENEMY Lorna Dane left the past where it belonged; behind her. But sometimes the past isn't easily left behind.
1. So Here We Are At The End

I wrapped the bright blue blanket over me; shutting the light out. Unfortunately it didn't block out my room mate's voice. "C'mon, Lorna. You've been in bed for two days." Brittney's voice was slightly muffled by my pillow. "Leave me alone." I yelled as I tried to bury myself farther into the bed. The bed moved a bit as Brittney sat down next to the bundle of blankets that was me. "Lorna, you and Bobby only dated for like, what, six months? Besides you're the one that dumped him." I kept my silence. "How about we go out to dinner? My treat." I popped my head up out of the blankets. "What time is it?" I said in a bored tone. Brittney glanced at the clock on the wall. "4:37." "Give me an hour." I said as I hopped out of bed.

Sophomores at the University of California in Berkeley were given the larger dorm rooms with individual bathrooms; a nice upgrade from the community showers the students had to endure during freshmen year. Ours was still in a clean condition considering it was third month of school and it had yet to be thoroughly cleaned. I took a quick shower; only really taking time to wash my natural green hair. No one ever asked me if my hair color was natural and I didn't expect them to. What normal human being has hair the color of the Emerald City. Even with the shower I was ready to go in forty minutes.

I jumped into a pair of dark blue skinny jeans before I grabbed a random black tank-top from our small closet. I finished with small heels and some light make-up. Brittney just rolled her tree-bark colored eyes at my wild attempts to dress quickly. Brittney and I had been friends for almost five years; since my junior year in high school. We knew everything about each other. I knew how Brittney had a small OCD problem when it came to the volume of the television; it had to be kept on an even number. She knew I liked to eat peanut butter straight out of the jar. I knew she had a strange obsession with the color purple; her side of the room was covered in the color. She knew I was mutant.

She knew I was a mutant. But she didn't know my life before I met her; almost five years ago. She didn't know I was adopted by a family as a baby and raised on the south side of Boston. Brittney didn't know I was recruited into a secret special military task force built up of mutants when I was just 16. She didn't know I had an extremely short affair was an older man named Wade Wilson before I suddenly quit the task force. My best friend didn't know that the commander of the team, Mr. William Stryker, had faked my suicide without me knowing, forcing me to relocate to Philadelphia, where I met her. Brittney believed I was foster child who managed to get emancipated. She thought my three day disappearance at the end of our senior in high school was due to me getting stranded on a New Jersey beach after I went to a board viewing with the state of Massachusetts. In reality I was flown to the north side of Canada before driving a stolen car all the way to Las Vegas, then I rode to New Orleans on the back of a Harley driven by a friend from the military team before taking a sea plane to Three Mile Island. But I knew Brittney had a large crush on the kid named Tyler, who lived on the floor below us.

We walked the three minutes to the student parking. I still drove the Cadillac I stole from Stryker when I left the team; only I had managed to forge paper work and serial numbers so I legally owned the car. I drove us to a near by Italian restaurant, where we were seated next to a middle aged couple and there twelve year old son. I met Bobby Drake at the end of my freshmen year; he was a junior at the time. I met him at a frat party; so that should have told me something. It was good at first but the last month or two of our relationship was awful. It was to the point that neither of us bothered to hide our distaste for each other. It wasn't until I formally broke it off with Bobby did he realized what an ass he was. I hadn't answered any of his phone calls.

"You wanna talk about it?" Brittney said in her compassionate tone as we looked over the large menu. I was reading the description on the shrimp pasta when I answered. "Not really." My best friend saw the true meaning of my answer. "Are sorry you slept with him?" She asked bluntly and a little too loudly. The middle aged women flashed us a disgusted look. "Bobby Drake is immature and inexperienced. You don't slept with Bobby; you endure him." I said putting an end to the subject. Our dinner came soon after and our conversation took a lighter note.

I was nervous when I first told Brittney about my mutation. I was worried she would react one of two ways. Reaction A: she believed me and ran for the hills. Reaction B: she thought I was completely insane and still ran for the hills. Either way I would lose my best friend. Fortunately her reaction was neither A or B. She believed me but that didn't effect the way she looked at me as a person. My green hair was the first sign of my mutation. My powers didn't start manifesting until I was about ten. It started with my detection of metal and then the manipulation of it. Then came the flight and force fields and magnetic energy pulses.

After dinner, we decided to forgo the weekly frat party and head home to watch violent movies which no why incorporate any love anyway shape of form. I dropped Brittney off at the dorm so she could sort through her five foot pile of movies while I ran to the convenience for popcorn and other fattening food. A Seven-Eleven was located a few blocks from campus and was frequented by many college students. It started to pour rain when I pulled into the almost empty parking lot. Rain was not a kind element for my hair. I was trying to decide between Junior Mints and M&M's when the bell above the door ranged; signaling an incoming customer. When I saw the man who walked through the door I forgot all about chocolate covered candy.

*Author's Note*

This is just a teaser. Please don't expect me to start rolling out chapters because I'm still developing the story.

I do not own Lorna Dane or any other names you recongize. I only own Brittney.

Thanks for reading!

-Madison Dyann-


	2. At The Same Time We're At The Beginning

***Author's Note***

Due to unforeseen plot developments I've decided to change Lorna's ex-boyfriend from Bobby Drake to Owen Harper.

Sorry for the confusion.

And I do not own anything. I did not create Lorna Dane but I did create Brittney and, now, Owen Harper.

Thanks for reading!

-**Madison Dyann**-

I normally wouldn't stare but the man who walked through the glass door was too beautiful not to. His blonde hair was wet from the rain so it stood up at odd angles when he ran his hand through it. His hair reminded me of the way the sunset reflects the ocean; the colored changed depending on where you were looking from. It looked like a brownish blonde when he was by the glass door but as he moved towards the chip section it became more of a yellow blonde. He was taller than me, which really wasn't that hard to believe. Everyone was taller than me it seemed. His tan was natural and he looked athletic. Not linemen, football athletic but soccer or surfer athletic.

I wasn't sure how long I had been staring before I realized I was. I quickly turned my attention back to the candy but my mind was still on the handsome man. I grabbed a large of peanut M&Ms before heading to the register. Only I hit something before I'd gone three feet. I'm starting to think I have a problem with running into people. In the split second that I was ignorant of the person I had knocked into I prayed it wasn't him but I'm never that lucky. "Sorry." I said as looked up at his eyes. His brown eyes. His brown eyes that held a bit of blue. His brown eyes that still held my attention even though the smile that he flashed was equally as entrancing.

"That's okay." He said with the smile still stretched across his face. He then looked down at the food I was holding. "So, a very big bag of candy and a two liter of Diet Coke. Someone's having a party. What's the occasion?" He said with a laugh. "Um, there's no occasion really. My roommate and I just decided to have a movie night." The words practically killed me as I said them; they sounded a little bit stupid in my head and even more as they came of my mouth.

"Sounds fun. I'm Alex Summers by the way." Mr. Alex Summers held out his hand. His hand swallowed mine as I shook it. His skin was soft and warm even though it was still wet from the rain outside. "Lorna Austin. Nice to meet you, Alex." The conversation then turned to light things like which was better: Snickers or Mars Bars. We must have been standing there talking for fifteen minutes when the bell above the door echoed through the store. A single word interrupted our pleasant conversation.

"Dude!" We both turned in the direction of the voice which belonged to a man wearing similar clothes to Alex, a tee shirt and cargo shorts, but instead of Alex's unique blonde hair his was an ordinary brown color. He was shorter than Alex, but still taller than me, and he had a very frustrated look on his face. "Sorry man. I got distracted." Alex said, laughing quietly to himself. His friend cursed under his breath before going back outside.

"What the hell took you so long? Did you get lost?" Brittney questioned as I walked through the door twenty minutes later. I didn't answer when I sat down in the purple beanbag that was a twin of Brittney's which were placed in the middle of floor in front of a large television. "Why are you smiling?" She asked giving me an odd look. "I'm not allowed to smile, now?" I bounced back; though now I did try to stop smiling but it didn't appear to be working. So, to stop smiling I kept talking. "What movie are we watching first?" I tried to avoid eye contact when Brittney, who was still trying to decipher an answer from my face.

"Psycho. What's his name?" She finally turned back to the television and pressed the 'play' button on the remote. "Alex Summers." The name just came out. It was like a reflex or a nervous tick. Brittney laugh softly. "What?" I asked. I was a little afraid she was going to start making jokes at my expense. "Nothing. It's just...I haven't seen you smile like than since Chloe Stern tripped over her own feet at our graduation. You like him?" She pulled open the bag of candy too much, causing a few to roll onto the floor. "Yep." I adjust myself in beanbag and threw my legs out in front me to get comfortable. "Did you get his number?" "Yep."


	3. Of This Misadventure

**Seven Months Later**

I was in love. I never felt like that before so I took the feeling that had manifested deep in my soul to be love. I wasn't sure if the feeling, if love, was supposed to grow so soon, so fast. But it seemed that with each passing day, each passing minute my love for Alex grew. I was worried that one day my body and mind wouldn't be able to hold it all and I would explode. It wasn't like the feelings I had for Wade Wilson all those years ago. That was a simple teenage crush. This, this was something completely different.

Over the past seven months, my feelings weren't the only that changed. Brittney had finally gotten the courage to talk to Tyler and they were going on five months now. I got promoted to hostess at the fancy restaurant I worked at. The pay was better and it was a lot less stressful than being a waitress. And between work and my social life I still managed to maintain a low A in all my classes, which was quite a feat for me since I was a major procrastinator.

There was just only one thing that bothered me. I had yet to tell Alex the truth about my mutation. Again, I was worried about his reaction. I'd probably be institutionalized if Alex left me because I was honest with him. And even though I planned on telling him about my ability, I didn't plan telling him everything. I planned on sticking to my well conceived back story. Some of it was true. My birth parents dead in a plane crash (true), I was then shipped from foster family to foster family until I decided to get emancipated and live on my own. It was so much simpler than reciting the novel that was my past.

Alex had a similar past. His parents were killed in a car accident when he was five. His older brother, Scott, and him were then put in foster care. Alex and Scott were adopted into different families and it had been over ten years since they saw each. Alex grew up in Hawaii before attending Berkeley for geophysics. It was a Thursday night when I decided to tell him about my secret.

Both of us were sitting on the small black couch his roommate and him had managed to cram into their dorm room watching a crappy movie when I broke the ice. "Alex, can I tell you something?"

Without taking his eyes off the screen, he nodded his head. "Sure, hon."

I exhaled heavily. Alex would watch anything as long as it had bright colors. To get his attention, I crawled across the couch to sit on his lap. The position I was in was a bit awkward but it got his attention. I'm sure it was hard to ignore someone when their face was just a few inches from yours, especially when that someone is your girlfriend. "I'm going to tell you something but you have to promise you won't freak out."

I think the seriousness in my voice caught him off guard. He wasn't a serious person so any form of it made him uncomfortable. "I won't freak out." He said cautiously.

"You know how I told you that I have to constantly dye my hair...well that not exactly true." I said maybe a bit too fast.

A soft laugh escaped Alex's lips. "Lorna, seriously? I don't care what color your hair is. I mean -"

"I'm not finished, Alex." I cut him off before I lost the nerve to tell him the truth. "I haven't been exactly honest with you about everything. I...uh...I'm..." I wasn't sure how to say it so I just blurted it out. "I'm a mutant."

There was no taking it back. A thousand questions filled my head immediately after I said those three words. Did I do the right thing? Was it too soon? He believes me, right? Why am I such an idiot? A loud laugh burst from Alex's lips. Oh, God. He thinks I'm insane. He continued laughing until I punched him in the chest. "Stop laughing at me!" I said in a hateful voice.

"You too, huh?" He managed to say between laughs. That was when the confusion set in. "Lorna, honey, it's quite possible we were made for each other. I'm a mutant too." The last four words stuck in my mind, hovering before my eyes. He was making fun of me. Or was he serious. To prove his point he pointed at a spot on the wall next to us. A small black fly had landed there. From the palm of his hand a bright pale light erupted and shot in the direction of the fly. A split second before the fly was obliterated it flew away to safety. It left behind a burning hole in the wall the size of a baseball.

With a smile on my face I announced, "You missed." Without lifting a finger, I picked the fly swatter, by its metal handle, from its place on the stereo and five seconds later the fly was on the floor dead.

Alex continued to smile. "Aren't you cool."


	4. Why I Had To Go Down A Dead End Street

I was on top. My life was going great. I had great friends; a great boyfriend; a steady, honest relationship; a stable job; I was getting a good college education. Yes, my life was great. But the world, no, the universe, seemed determined to knock me down each time I was on my way to the top. Each time I thought I was free from my ugly past it popped up again and bit me in the ass.

I was enjoying my day off from school and work when it became a pain in my ass again. Alex had a calculus class and it was a bit too hot outside so I forwent my usual two mile run for a calm two mile walk at the public park. Since I wasn't running I didn't feel the need to change out of my jean shorts and red tank top. As usual, I got a few stares from older people because of my hair. I was more than half done with my two miles when two people approached me.

One was a lady, probably in her early thirties. Her bright blonde hair was shoulder length and looked almost white in the spring sunlight. She was dressed in tight jeans and a dark blue top that matched her eyes. The other was an old man, maybe in his mid-fifties. His hair was already gray and receding slightly. The only thing abnormal about his attire were the long sleeves on his shirt. I was wearing less than half the clothes he was and I was on the verge of heat stroke.

"Ms. Austin, my name is Eric Lehnsherr. We'd wish to speak with you." Bad things always followed these situations for me. But we were in the middle of a public park full of mothers and their children, old and young couples walking hand in hand, and old men play chess at the stone tables, so I saw no danger in talking to the strangers at least. I followed them to an empty stone picnic table, where I sat on the opposite side of them.

"Lorna, -" He started but I cut him off before he could go any further.

"It's Ms. Austin to you." I may have gotten a bit too hostel too soon but I was tried of people I'd never met before wanting to talk to me. I thought I was past that stage in my life.

"Are you sure? Or do you prefer Ms. Dane?" Lehnsherr asked with a small smile on his face like he was sharing an inside joke.

My stomach did a back flip and then a full layout. "Listen, I don't know who you are or what you want but you can go back to where ever it is that you came from and tell Stryker that he needs to leave me the hell alone." I hoped the fear I felt was hidden by the hatred in my voice.

"My dear child, I have no connection to that man or what happened all those years ago." Eric Lehnsherr seemed offended at my assumption. He waited a second for the notion that meant me no harm to set in before continuing. "We are just like you, Lorna. We're mutants and we want to help you. We can help you embrace your gift. We can offer a place where you'd be free from judgment and hostile."

Unfortunately for Mr. Lehnsherr, I'd heard that speech one too many times. There was nothing wrong with the life I had now. Sure, I couldn't tell every single person I met I was mutant without experiencing backlash but that didn't bother me. The people that I cared about knew the truth, and that was all I cared about. And the last time I fell for those similar words I walked into a world of pain coming from an almost never-ending parade of stupid. I was over it already. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lehnsherr, but I'm pretty happy with the life I have now. And I see no need to change that." I said it the most respectful way possible for me.

Even though I was trying to neutral out my previous hostile behavior, I still stood up and walked away without another word. I wanted to get away before I changed my mind. But the desire to live a normal life outweighed the desire to live out in the open as a mutant. I calmly and quietly made my back to the parking lot. When I reached the dorm, I found Alex laid out on his bed with a text book in front of his nose. I didn't mention the conversation I had with Eric Lehnsherr; nor did I plan to.


	5. Screaming For Vengeance

The next few weeks went on as normal. Nothing our of the ordinary happened except Alex managed to get a B+ on his physics test, which was probably due to my awesome tutoring. I had all but forgotten about my encounter with Eric Lehnsherr and the unnamed woman. I had much more important things to worry about. Finals were quickly approaching and I had to make sure both Alex and I were prepared.

Alex wasn't dumb, he just preferred to watch television than study. He was perfectly satisfied with a C. I wasn't sure if it was my strive for perfection or the need to support myself that made me so anal about school and grades. It was probably a mixture of both. I wanted to prove to myself that I picked the right path. That I choose right in not revealing my existence to my parents and trying to rebuild my old life. So far, I believed I made the right choice.

Finals came and went without a problem or disturbance. I wasn't really looking forward to traveling back to Philadelphia. I just had an apartment and a few distant friends back home unlike Alex, who had an entire family, across the ocean in Hawaii. It was a day before we were due to leave campus; a day before we went our separate ways for the summer. It was also the last night of my job at the restaurant, I would be able to resume my post when school started again. After helping clean up the last few tables I still had to clean out my locker so my car was alone in the parking lot when I exited the already locked door.

It wasn't unusual for me to be the last person to the leave the restaurant, so I wasn't uncomfortable walking to my car alone, at night. But I wasn't exactly alone that night. It wasn't until I reached my car that I noticed him. My car was parked by one of two lamp posts the lot contained, so the spot was lit. I was jumbling my keys when I saw the shadow spread across my car. Naturally, I jumped and dropped my keys in the process. As I spun around to face him, a rough hand appeared over my mouth. His other arm came up and placed itself on the top my car, blocking my exit to the left. He positioned his body, so it leaned to right, blocking my other exit.

It had been over two year since I'd see his face; something I could have went the rest of my life without seeing again. He had changed much since I last saw him but, yet, he still looked the same. His chin-length, light brown hair was longer than the army-standard crew cut I last saw him with. It was also in need of brushing. If it was possible, he seemed even bigger than he was the last time he loomed over me like this. That seemed so long ago; another life time.

"Long time, no see, Lorna." Victor Creed said in his, still, malevolent voice. I reacted immediately; before the increasing fear could handicap me. I intended on bending the metal light post to knock Victor out of the way, but that was before he removed his hand from my mouth and roughly gripped the back of my neck. "Do it and I'll break your neck." I took a few seconds to evaluate Victor's reflex ability and in the end I decided not to risk it.

"Aren't you going to say 'hello'?" Victor teased. His eyes were still two black pieces of coal. There was a hint of emotion in them but I couldn't decipher it. I was sure it wasn't anything pleasant.

"What do you want?" I said rudely, trying to hide my fear. Victor's grip tightened slightly around my neck.

"You haven't changed much, Lorna. Still the same stubborn, naive, little girl I met all those years of ago. You're so predictable," Victor said in a rather calm, conversational voice."Though, I was surprised at the amount of time it took you to get over Wade. You know he really liked you. Still, that Alex kid looks nice -" Victor stopped talking when I slapped him across the face. The smile melted away and was replaced with more rage and anger. Then as quick as it came, the rage disappeared again.

"What do you want?" Tears started to fill my eyes and cloud my vision. I was losing my composure.

"What I want is of no matter do you right now. What matters is who I work for. Eric Lehnsherr, I believe you've met him, isn't exactly a patient man. Now, he's asked you kindly once and this is him asking kindly again. I doubt you wanna make him ask a third time." It suddenly became obvious to me why Victor was acting so civilized. Lehnsherr had instructed Victor not to hurt me, at least not physically. I took hope in the assumption that my observation was correct.

"No." I kept my voice quiet and even.

Victor removed his hand from both my neck and my car. He stepped back a foot or two and stopped. "For both Alex's and your sake, you should change your mind, kid. Do something smart for once in your life." Victor Creed then disappeared back in to the darkness of the empty parking lot.

I stood by my car for ten minutes waiting for something bad to happen. Something bad always happened. But nothing came, so I quietly picked my keys up from asphalt, started my car and drove away as a plan started manifest in my mind. A light rain came falling down as I turned onto campus.


	6. Something I'm Trying to Figure Out

I was completely paranoid. I hadn't been this upset and distraught since the first few months after the Three Mile Island incident. I stopped running in the park and I refused to walk to my car after work alone. Brittney, being that psychology major, noticed. At first, she didn't say anything. But after a week and no end to my paranoia in sight, she decided to ask.

We were grocery shopping at a small store and I was constantly looking over my shoulder; waiting for someone to jump out and yell "Boo!" "What is wrong with you?" There was no way I could 'not' tell her, not now. Not after she accepted and trusted me the way she did.

So, I told her about the old man and woman in the park and then I told her about Victor Creed. I told her everything. I told her about my parents; about Stryker; about Three Mile Island; about everything. Except Wade Wilson. She remained silent as she took in the new information that I had kept from her. After a minute, I asked, "What should I do?" That was the one question I wanted an answer too.

Still, she remained silent; thinking. "Go to New York." I knew instantly what she meant. After Three Mile Island and my very brief meeting with a strange mutant named Charles Xavier, I did some research. The only found one thing; the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children. It was supposedly a boarding school for extremely smart children of all ages. But from what Charles Xavier told me, I knew it was a school for mutants.

I was unable to give her any kind of answer because at that moment the ground exploded. With the tiled floor shaking violently, shelves and even Brittney and I were knocked over. The grocery was in ruins. Cans of food were rolling across the cracked floor as the lights tried desperately to stay on.

I would have believed the excuse of California's usual earthquake if there weren't four people standing perfectly calm at the end of what was an aisle. I jumped up, stumbled over spilled pickles, to help a disoriented Brittney to her feet. I was perfectly open to the idea of just pretending that the earthquake was created by nature but the four strange persons felt the need to set the story straight.

"You know what the definition of stupid is? It's the process of doing something over and over again and expecting different results. And you, Lorna, are one stupid little girl." The voice of Victor Creed traveled through the air until it reached my ear where is was then processed by my brain and caused my heart rate to increase tenfold. Victor was dressed in a similar style, only his coat was a dark blue color. He stood slightly apart from the other three men; demonstrating that he was in control of the situation.

The man closest to him was the tallest of the group. His brown hair looked like it needed combed and his clothes were layered in dirt. Similarly, the kid next to him, who was about my age, needed to wash both his hair and his self. This skin was a green tint to it and his body was hunched over slightly. The last man, I recognized. I just didn't know from where. His hair was a bright silver color and the smug look on his face seemed to be permanent.

I immediately put myself in front of the skill disoriented Brittney. That was probably my first mistake. This show of protection only caused the smirk on Victor's face to become a wide smile. A smile I wanted to wipe off his face. "You would know all about stupid, Victor." My second mistake was effective in removing Victor's cheer. But mine was extremely short lived.

The floor shook again, but not as violently. I managed to stay on my feet but some how, the blonde man was behind and then he wasn't. And neither was Brittney. I heard sirens in the distance but I knew they would never reach us in time. And if they did, there was nothing they could do. In the blink of an eye, Victor held Brittney by the throat, threatening to tighten his grip.

I knew what they wanted. They wanted be to join their little mutant army. But I was past being forced into things. I had made the decision long ago to do it alone; without any help from those who would exploit me and my abilities. It wasn't until that moment that I realized that I would put my life on the line to keep my promise to myself.

But was I willing to risk Brittney's life? Or Alex's? Or anyone I've ever loved? Unfortunately, Victor made his decision before I could make mine. I watched, with horror and anguish, as Brittney's lifeless body fell to the floor with an uncommonly loud thud.

Many things happened the second after the thud lost its way in the infinite silence. The floor shook a third time, the blonde man disappeared again and a translucent dome of a force field closed me off from the wreckage and the rest of the world. I watched, with little amusement, as the blond man reappeared and collide with the dome. He fell to the ground and nursed his now bleeding nose. A familiar itchy feeling erupted in the palms of my hands. Cans started to spin and rise a few feet off the floor and into the air.

Victor, unaware of the danger I posed, approached me with a curious look. He put a hand on the invisible dome, testing the strength. When the itching became unbearable, I raised my right arm, with my palm pointed directly at Victor. I let go the building energy and a green magnetic pulse surged from my palm. At the last possible second, I held back some energy, unsure of my abilities. But nevertheless, Victor was blown backwards off his feet.

I didn't wait to see where he landed or even if I had killed him. I ran over the rumble and out the door before anyone could think to follow me.

*Author's Note*

Deeply sorry about the wait. School sucks.

-Madison Dyann-


	7. Some Big Master Plan

I managed to pull out of the eerily empty parking lot before the police and ambulances reached the crumbling store. I forced my car to go as fast as possible without drawing too much attention to myself. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going, but my instincts took me back to campus and the dorm Brittney and I shared. I haphazardly parked the car in the nearest spot. I jumped out of the car and raced into the almost empty dorm building. I ran up five flights of stairs instead of waiting on the elevator.

When I pushed the fifth floor door open, I collided with another body. Fearing the worst, a small scream escaped my lips. I inhaled, preparing to scream again, but stopped suddenly when I saw who was laying on the floor with me. Alex's face went from amused to worried in about a nanosecond. "What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up.

Suddenly, all the emotions from the past hour poured out in the form of endless tears. All the fear and paranoia from the past week along with the pain and heartbreak that had been building inside me over the years burst out in the form of salt ridden droplets of water. The tears didn't stop either. They just continued to soak Alex's shirt which I clung to desperately. Alex was silent. My strong display of emotion had clearly frightened him, as it had me. When it become clear to him that there was no near end to my breakdown, Alex slowly and carefully picked me up and carried down the hall and into my dorm room.

He sat down on my unmade bed and leaned against the wall while I continued to cry into his shoulder. For the second time, he asked "What's wrong?" And the only answer he received was more sobs. Alex clearly wanted to help but he was unsure of how. "Do you want me to get Brittney?" The sound of her name pulled me, only temporarily, from my misery and back to reality where danger was still present.

After wiping my eyes and taking a deep breath, I dived into the same story I told Brittney not an hour before. Alex sat in shocked silence, probably to afraid to interrupt. I went on to tell him what happened in the grocery store and Brittney's fate. And just like Brittney, when I was finished talking Alex was speechless. An odd silence filled the air between us. The silence scared me worst than anything. "I guess we should start packing." His tone was very nonchalant.

"We? You mean you still wanna stay with me?" Surely Alex had more intelligence than that. Why would he want to stay with someone who lied to him and is a danger to be around. Death and destruction seemed to follow me every where. Why would Alex want to subject himself to that.

"What do you mean 'why'? Oh, Lorna. Can't you see that I love. It doesn't matter what you did or what you are. I love you. I would gladly follow you to Hell and back if you let me. I am going to New York with you."

Half an hour after Alex spoke those words, we were driving down the interstate, leaving San Francisco behind us. After packing just our clothes and taking all the things we couldn't live without, Alex and I quickly but at a legal speed made our way for the California/Nevada border. "Do you know how to get to New York?" Alex asked offhandedly. My 'yes' wasn't entirely truthful.

I knew the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was located in North Salem, New York. I knew North Salem as located at forty-one degrees, nineteen minutes and forty-one seconds north of the equator and seventy-three degrees, thirty six minutes and forty-seven seconds west of the meridian passing through Greenwich, England. I knew how to get to that specific location. But I didn't know _how_ to get to New York. My internal GPS allowed me to never get lost as long as I knew where I was going. Or as long as I knew the coordinates of where I wanted to go.

We didn't stop until we reached St. Louis, driving straight though the night. The city was just waking up when we pulled into a cheap motel. After signing-in under fake names, Alex following my leader, we went straight to our room and without words, we fell asleep.

I awoke late in the afternoon. The small motel room was quiet. The cheap flowered wallpaper seemed to reverberate the silence. I wasn't sure how long I laid in bed, staring at the ugly wall, before I noticed the absence of Alex. His snoring should have blocked out the silence. I rolled over, only to be greeted by an empty bed. I quickly lifted myself off my bed. "Alex?" Just more silence.

I was about to lose it when I noticed the small note laid delicately on Alex's pillow. _Dear Lorna, Gone to get breakfast, Be back in less than an hour. Love, Alex (4:15)_ was scribbled on the note in Alex's hardy handwriting. According to the crappy digital clock on the wobbly side table, Alex left about ten minutes ago. Still with a bit of worry in my mind, I took a warm shower.

I wasn't how long I was in the shower but when I exited the small dingy bathroom Alex was back. "Where did you find breakfast at at four in the afternoon?" I asked playfully, startling Alex.

"Oh, you know. Bob Evans serves breakfast around the clock." We ate in silence, which bothered neither of us. We both had a very thin thought to mouth filter, mine was probably thinner than Alex's, and if there was something that needed to be said, we would say it.

After the late breakfast and a quick nap, we were on the road again. Alex drove the rest of the way, since most of it was interstate. For entertainment, I took to changing the radio station from song to song using my power instead of the dial on the dashboard. The trip from Illinois to New York was just as uneventful as the previous part of the trip. We exited the interstate just before we hit New York City and spent forty-five minutes on state and county roads before we entered North Salem.

That was the end of my directions. We stopped at a small diner where we got some lunch and directions to the Xavier's School from an elderly waitress. The school was hard to miss. A large mansion built out of large gray stones, giving it a small fortress feel. Green ivy grew up the south side, concealing the wall from view. Preventing any unwanted traffic, a large iron gate was placed at the start of the gravel driveway. I parked the car, and both Alex and I stepped out to marvel at the magnificence of the building.

Alex uncertainly pressed the button on the call box. A polished female voice emitted from the small metal box. "How may I help you?" Her tone was not that of a receptionist but of someone who though themselves above that.

"We need to see Professor Xavier." I said calmly.

There was more emotion in her voice this time. "Oh, Lorna and Alex? We've been expecting you." Without another word the iron gates opened gracefully.


	8. Raw Nerve Endings Of Dysfunction

Fifteen minutes later, Alex and I were sitting across a desk from Charles Xavier. He looked the same as when I first saw him; over two years ago. He seemed taller close up. His office was on the first floor and over looked the backyard. A sizeable stone patio and numerous overgrown hedges blocked any further viewing of the backyard.

Alex and I sat anxiously in two comfortable leather-bound chairs. Xavier sat behind his neatly organized wooden desk. "It's been a long time, Lorna. But I didn't expect to see you this soon." Xavier said with a kind but gloomy smile. Both Alex and I remained silent. I sensed the Professor had much more to say.

"I know what happened and I am sincerely sorry for your lost." The melancholy smile departed.

"Who is he?" I asked quickly before my mind could come to rest on the memory of Brittney.

"The man behind all your recent strife? I believe you already know his name. Erik Lehnsherr. Though occasionally he goes by Magneto."

"What does he want with Lorna?" Alex asked strongly, readjusting himself in the seat.

"I believe Magneto is forming a mutant army. Erik and I have seen firsthand the effects of human's prejudices; against their own species and against mutants. Together, we tried to gain mutant equality but now, all Erik cares about is mutant _superiority_. For the past few months, Magneto has been recruiting mutants to his cause." The Professor explained.

"What should _we_ do?" I asked slowly.

"Well, you are free to stay here as long as you like. We have plenty of room." The smile returned with the change of subject.

I looked at Alex. It was clear with the expression on his face that he would go where ever I went. I looked Charles Xavier and if his offer came from someone else, I wouldn't even take the time to think about it. But I was thinking about it. Xavier's offer seemed different from all the rest. It seemed like I had an actual choice.

"Sure." I was the only answer I could muster.

The smile grew. "Then I should introduce you to the others and show you to your room. And Alex, I think there's someone here who would be really interested in seeing you again."

*

"God dammit!" I muttered under my breath. The small red target was shattered but so was the clear glass around it. The exercise was to work on precision and aiming. I was supposed to hit the red target, which was about the size of a quarter, with my magnetic pulse without injuring the glass around it. It was harder than it looked. I had trouble controlling the size of each pulse. At least Alex was having trouble too.

A week had past since we first came to New York. The majority of students here were young, teenagers. But there were a few adults. The woman whose voice had greeted us at the gate was Emma Frost. She was a few years older than me. She was a tall blonde, rather smutty woman with a real dry sense of humor. Needless to say, I liked her. She was a telepath, just like the Professor. She also had the ability to turn her skin into diamonds. For some reason, I felt like my mutation paled in comparison.

There was only two more students the same age as Alex and I. One of them was the Professor was taking about. It had been about five years since Alex saw his older brother, Scott. They exchanged Christmas cards every year but they kept in constant contact with each other. Alex hadn't stopped smiling yet. I was happy for him but Scott and I didn't get along. There hadn't been any direct conflict between us yet, but it was clear we would not be friends. Scott was too officious and stern. Too mature.

I never understood what his girlfriend, Jean Grey, saw in him. Maybe it was that they were both boring. Even though she too was a telepath, Jean was nothing like Emma. Jean was conservative and an obvious motherly person. Like I said, boring. The only thing exciting about Jean was her fiery red hair.


	9. Convoluted, Polluted, Distorted

We are all going to die. Emma, Jean, Alex, me, everyone. Even Scott's ego can't protect us. I cowered behind a dilapidated car as another ball of fire flew into the dark sky. I wasn't sure where Alex was. I wasn't sure where anyone was. Our plan had fallen part just mere seconds into the mission. Now, the once controlled chaos was unleashed.

I dared a looked though the broken window to see the enemy. All I could make was a large spotlight, which swept over the ground in front of it. Off in the distance, to the right of me, a mixture of red and blue beams of energy shot though the air, and collided with whatever was behind the spotlight. _At least Alex and Scott are okay._ As the thought crossed my mind, the light crossed the ground in search of the origin of the attack. Then the ground to my right exploded as the Sentinel destroyed the land with energy blasts.

A mixture of desperation, fear, and anger lead me to break the rules directly laid out by Hank and then again by Scott. I gathered my nerves and anxiously adjusted the bland black uniform I was forced to wear before standing and stepping away from the safety of the car. Ignoring the consequences, which would probably involve more conflict with Scott, I wielded the Sentinel, which was made completely of steel, to stop its advancement. It was harder than I had perceived. The three stories tall Sentinel has so many moving parts, I had to focus every bit of my concentration to stop it. And then there were the parts that enabled to fire the large blasts of energy.

Thankfully, Alex came to my rescue. With a powerful blast, which was perfectly aimed thanks to Hank's new gadget, Alex effectively decapitated the large machine. The large Sentinel's head fall clumsy to the ground and landed with a thud. Immediately, the landscape dissolved. The car, damaged land, and random fires all disappeared, leaving behind five mutants and a beheaded Sentinel standing in a large, domed room.

The metal slide open and Hank McCoy came marching in. I knew I was in trouble by the look on his blue furred face. Hank, and Scott, had specifically told me not to use my magnetism. Something about that it would defeat the purpose of the session, which was to learn to work together. But before Hank could scold me in his fatherly tone, Scott began chastising me. "What do you think you are doing, Lorna? I _told_ you…." I stopped listening after a few seconds.

It had been just of a month since Alex and I came to Xavier's school and the only negative aspect of the move I was able to find was the presence of Alex's older brother, Scott. For Alex's sake I tried to me polite, even nice but Scott's self-righteousness really rubbed me the wrong way. So, I changed my strategy and I just started to ignore him. So far, it had worked well.

When Scott was done yelling at me, Hank reiterate the same things but in a more polite and dignified tone. I apologized, even though I wasn't sorry, as I followed everyone out of the Danger Room. Dr. Henry 'Hank' McCoy was the brains of the Xavier School. Along with a degree in genetics, Hank was also the engineer and creator of the Danger Room and the other sophisticated equipment that was hidden beneath the surface of the mansion.

However, the Sentinel was not of his design. They were designed by a United States government program called Project Wideawake. The purpose of Wideawake was to detect and capture mutants by means of the Sentinels. According to Hank, the government was still having trouble with the completion of their Sentinels. The idea that my own government was building an army to capture mutants was not out my range of probability.

Over the month of training, I had practically gained complete control over my abilities. I even learned in full detail what those were. Hank ran blood tests on both Alex and I a short while after we arrived. After giving a long explanation of how my blood is able to fight any foreign agent, Hank also explained that my genes age half as fast regular humans. That meant when I was forty, I would look twenty. I was quite happy about that. Hank also explained that many mutants don't age as quickly as non-mutants but it was not usually as substantial as my genes.

I found Alex's genes were much more interesting than mine. Alex was immune to most forms of radiation and heat but that was probably because his body was constantly absorbing cosmic radiation, which was used to power his energy blasts. Alex had never actually been in control of his ability. He was not able to effectively aim and measure the energy behind his blasts. But that was before he met Hank. Hank was somehow able to design and build a special containment suit equipped with sensors for measuring and controlling Alex's power output. Alex was quite happy with the suit, which I found rather unfashionable. The giant circle in the middle of Alex's chest measured the amount of cosmic radiation currently in Alex's body. The brightness would change depending on the amount of energy Alex's body possessed. Alex's genes also did not age as fast of a human but his were only a one-third slower.

Alex was also immune to Scott's optic blasts, and vice versa. I wished I was immune to Scott Summers, but someone has to draw the short straw. And that someone is usually Lorna Dane.


End file.
